Final Minute
by Scriptwriter Mika
Summary: As they climbed for their lives in that final minute in those tunnels, they managed to save each other as they did before, they were once more, best friends. One shot tribute to Clex friendship. Spoilers for 6.19 Nemesis


A/N: I just…felt an urge to write a short one shot about Lex and Clark's relationship. Err…their platonic turned…Nemesis one, not the Clex slash, which while for others, is not for me. I'm rambling now. I might do a tribute to how they ended up on the finale in the future. Or maybe just moments between the two of them whenever this muse decides to urge me on. Anyway, spoilers for 6.19 Nemesis.

Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.

"_Clark?"_

The hope was evident in Lex's voice when Clark Kent had arrived in the tunnels. The hope that his best friend was back to save him, from the tunnel, and maybe from himself. No matter what had happened between them, Lex always said Clark's name the same when he arrived to play the hero—hope with a hint of longing to be trusted. To be trusted to be a good and decent human being that would always be there for his friend. He hadn't wanted to be the villain of this story, but life or was it destiny always seemed to force him down that path. And he had always hoped that Clark Kent would be able to pull him out of it.

"_Nothing's ever good enough for you, Lex. "_

"_Yeah, well, the truth would have been. You may be flesh and blood... but you've been hiding secrets from me since we met. You never trusted me."_

But the hope was soon lost, buried under years of distrust, of half truths, of lies and manipulations. That was always the wedge between then, the great mystery of Clark Kent. One minute he seemed invincible, inhuman, and godlike. And the next, as evident by the shrapnel Lex was pulling out, he was mortal, vulnerable—weak. Lex could have made him strong, could have covered up that weakness, if only Clark had let him, had trust him.

"_Would it have mattered? What are you really doing down here anyway, Lex? Trying to find ways to exploit the people that have different abilities than you?"_

"_There is no gray area with you, is there? It's either all good or all evil. Did you ever try to see my humanity before you decided I had none?" _

"_I did, Lex. And look where we are."_

But that was always the inner conflict in Clark Kent: to trust Lex Luthor or not. To trust his best friend or not. Would it have mattered? Perhaps he saw something darker within his once best friend. Something that would overwhelm any good intentions. Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back and Lex was downright obsessive, driven, and when it came down to it, ruthless in his methods of protection. He crossed the lines that Clark could not and would not even toe. For that, Clark both admired and resented Lex. Because when it came down to it, if Clark couldn't stop the darkness from overtaking Lex, he needed to be in a position to stop him. A position that would be further out of grasp if they were to remain as friends. Maybe in the back of his mind he knew that, so Clark Kent tried a little less with Lex as time went on, but he hoped. He always hoped, both of them always hoped that the other could get over, would get over their inner demons.

"_When Lex pulled me out of that rubble, I saw a glimpse of something I hadn't seen in years. My friend."_

And when Clark looks back on the incident in the tunnels, he'll be reminded of why he never truly lost all hope in Lex Luthor of all people as he was pulled out of the rubble by the same hands that had fixed his bow tie all those years ago. And when Clark saw Lex's eyes in that moment, he knew that was the same man that told him that their friendship would be "the stuff of legend".

"_Go!"_

And the final minute clicks. It's a race to the top. A race of survival. A race that seems to symbolize the basis of their friendship. Lex falls; Clark grabs his hand to save him. And in that minute, the past does not matter. As Clark pulls Lex to safety, in that small moment of but a few seconds, they both got what they wanted: Lex had Clark's trust, and Clark allowed himself to believe in Lex. They saved each other, as they did in the past, as they still do, though in a much more twisted and convoluted way. As they both raced each other to the top, they are best friends once again.

But then the dust settles. The past reinstates itself once more and the truth has become twisted again. The final minute is over. Their lives are safe, but their friendship is marred by their previous sins and grievances against each other. Nemesis, the ugly perversion of what was so once pure is now their reality yet again.

"_Were we ever really friends Lex?"_

"_I don't know. I have nothing to compare it to. You're the only real friend I've had Clark…and somewhere along the way you saw me as your nemesis. You turned your back on me."_


End file.
